Baby names: What are the most popular baby names from the last 100 years? We explore

5/11/21 8:00PM

The latest data from the US Social Security Administration reveals that Liam and Olivia have retained their places at the top of the most popular baby names in the United States. For male babies, Liam has now been the most popular name of choice for 4 years, while Olivia has ranked at the top for females for 2 years, relegating Emma to second place after a 5-year spell at the top.

‍100 years of names

‍We went back through the data from the SSA, to chart the most popular names of the last 100 years. For years Mary dominated naming lists, occupying the top spot for females from 1920 until the early 1960s, with Linda only briefly knocking Mary off her perch. Then, after a short spell at the top for Lisa, the "J's" of Jennifer and Jessica reigned until the mid-1990s before Emily ascended for a 12-year run. Since then, Isabella, Sophia and Emma have each had a spell at the top before Olivia topped the table in 2019.

For male babies, John, Robert and James ruled in turn until Michael took the top spot in 1961 — a place Michael would stay for 44 years in total, giving up the top spot to David for just 1 year in 1960. Jacob was then top for 13 years from 1999 to 2012 before giving way to Noah and eventually Liam.

‍Honourable mentions: There have been more Patricias born than Jennifers in the last 100 years, but Patricia never cracked the top spot. There were also 3.5 million Williams born, with William never falling outside of the top 20 names, but again never cracking the top spot.

The most popular names in total from the last 100 years can be found here and the top 10 for 2020 can be found here.

Tom Jones7h

The UAE’s OPEC exit will hit the group in the barrels

After just shy of 60 years in OPEC, its membership even predating its status as a nation-state, the United Arab Emirates yesterday announced its shocking departure from the oil production group, effective May 1, as the knock-on effects of the Iran war continue to play out across the Middle East and the energy landscape.

For context, the UAE produces the third-highest amount of oil in the group, per April data and OPEC’s latest set of annual statistics.

According to the cartel’s 2025 Annual Statistical Bulletin, the OPEC group was collectively exporting some 19 million barrels of crude oil a day last year, with the United Arab Emirates accounting for some 14% of that daily output.

UAExit means UAExit

The nation, whose energy minister told Reuters yesterday that the decision was taken “after a careful look at current and future policies related to level of production” and wasn’t made following discussions with any other country, made up a healthy share of the group’s total confirmed crude oil reserves, as well.

Of the 12 nations in the core group, which was founded by just five oil superpowers back in September 1960, only two (Iraq and Saudi Arabia) exported more barrels of crude oil daily, pumping out 3.36 million and 6.05 million barrels, respectively, each day to nations around the world.

For its part, the UAE said it will “continue its responsible role by gradually and thoughtfully increasing production, in line with demand and market conditions,” per the official state news agency. Clearly, the nation now wants a little more control of just how much oil it can pump around the world, with the UAE having to eat a large proportion of lost revenues due to its healthy abundance and OPEC restrictions.